Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1887-01-26
from Cdnnj5aIs and Copricts

Fruitful Theme for study by the New
LGnd and Labor PARTY.
From CGnnj5aIs and Comuicts.
PITCAIRN ISLAND.
Every schOolbOy knows the story of the
mutiny on board the British man-ct-wa
the Bounty; how the men rebelled against
their commander, Capt. Bligh; how,
bloodlessly, the crew took possession of
the ship, and put their Captain and his
officers in the longboat, with provisions
and water. to seek land as they could.
The mutlneers sailed to the Society
Islands, were well received by the peace
full natives, and took unto themselves
wives of the daughters of the handbook
them in some cases as the
Romans did the Sabine dam
GELS, which led to complications with in
dignant relatives, in which few of the
English sailors were killed. The remain
der sailed away with their partners to
find some island not likely to be visited
by British men-ot-war, where they could
s live in peace, If not plenty. They came
in time to the lonely rock OF Pitcairn,
rising from the Pacific, uninviting in as
pect, not likely to tempt the Captain of
any stray vessel to land. But the mutt
neers found there sufficient shelter in the
gorges, and soil fertile enough to raise
food. Their ship was burnt to avoid de-
tection; and when the disturbing element,
the ''grOg," was all gone they settled down
happily, their wants provided for by fish
of the ocean and fruits of the land.
Tended by their gentle wives, and with
children born unto them, the whole ma
ture of the mutneers appears to have
4 changed, or their original natures to have
natn 10 n1lu on
record Of return to the first principles
of existence etfecting such result. The
d peaceful influence of their loving, innO-
i cent Tahitian wives has, l think, much to
Il do with this, and with the qualities ip-
herent in their descendants. SO for long
years the Pitcairn Islanders lived an iso-
lated eXistence-''the world forgetting;
By the world forgot" The mutiny of the
Bounty had passed into history and story
book, when the fact that Pitcairn
i Island was inhabited was discovered by
passing vessel. The last Of the mutt
neers was still living, an old man, patri-
i arch of the little community. After this
the island was occasionally visited by
men-ot-w war; and from time to time stray
accounts of this living romance appeared
y in English journals. New blood was in
fused into the settlement by a young
white man taking up his abode and cast
ing in his lot with the islanders. George
Hum hobbs, an English youth, well-bred
and educated, was apprentice in a mer-
chant vessel, when the spirit OF romance
urged him 10 leave his snip and join
this strange community. Seldom
has an impulse been followed by
better results. Setting an exam
pie of cody and righteous lite, the
new conner acted for years as pastor ana
q schoolmaster to his island neigh bors.
Himself married by the chaplain of a
man of war which visited the place, he
i later on took the opportunity of returning
to England, and was admitted into the
"a church, that he might render the offices
81 of religion to his fellows, and give spirit
S aial sanction TO the union of the sexes.
But population increased faster than
food; the area of cultivation in the island
was barely sufficient to maintain the
grandchildren of the mutineers; and fam.
jne was imminent.
NORFOLK ISLAND.
The Rev. George HUM hobbs sent
pressing appeals to England. The ro-
8 nance OF the situation excited sympathy
81 and the result was that when Norfolk
Island was abandoned as penal settle
Z ment, transportation to the colonies hav-
Il ing been discontinued, its possession was
& transferred, as free gift from the Crown,
to the Pitcairn community. over 200
in a government transport during that
year, They received not only the gift OF
the island, comprising fifteen square
miles of land capable OF tillage,
800 acres of which were cleared
and fenced, and large tract OF noble
pine forests, but also all the eighty-Cne
substantial buildings, including chapel,
school-room, hospital, barracks, prisons,
dwelling houses, cottages, mills and
workshops. Added to these were iurni-
fure, artisans tools, and agricultural in
elements. The gardens were stocked
with seed, the fields with grain, and the
farms with sheep, cattle, horses, pigs and
poultry. A truly royal gift this, and the
4 islanders, accustomed in their former
home to hard life, must have felt at first
embarrasse with the riches in their new
possession.
There cannot be q greater contrast to
the peaceful island scenery and sur
roundings than these evidences of its
former occupants, unless 1t is the condi.
ton of the present inhabitants. Having
done with the dead past, we were taken
round to be introduced to the living
present. We were welcomed everywhere.
a loaded with flowers and fruit, ana gOrged
with milk. | was introduced TO Chris.
tians. YOungs, Adamses and Quintels
without end. They were tine, tall race
B loOse-limbed, olive-tinted, with dark eyes
4 and black hair. There was a semi-tr0pi
cal Incidence in all their move
ments, and they spoke with the
peculiar soft intonation which
marked their Tahitian blood. Race told
in the want of energy, and early associa
lions in their distaste for shoes. The meu
dressed in simple pants and shirt, the
ladies in loose white gowns and straw
hats adorned with wreaths of natural
flowers. They wore flowers, too, in bands
round their uecks, as in Tahiti or Ha-
wall. Flowers blossOmed everywhere in
Norfolk Island. Some OF the ladies', how
4 ever, affected the vanities of city life IN
their headgear and chaussure. More
beautiful women mad seldom seen IN The
e world than these tall, stately ladies.
svelle, yet with a bewitching languor In
their dark eyes, and temptation in theiI
cherry lips, that made Norfolk Island a
dangerous place for susceptible man to
visit. Children abounded in the streets
shy, lithe-limbed creatures, in whom az
< yet there was no sign OF deterioration
such as might have been expected through
continual intermarriage.
Civil, hospitable, courteous, with no
gaucherie or vulgarty, these people had
strange lack OF curiosity as to what
went on IN the outer world. Like the
members OF all small communities, they